This April I’ll be taking part in an epic project on the Monumental Steps of the Sydney Opera House featuring hundreds of voices from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs and the music of my old friend and colleague Dan Walker.

From the Sydney Opera House website

Live Echo transforms the Monumental Steps into a living instrument—where human breath, voice, and vibration converge in a resonant act of collective sound.

Live Echo transforms the Monumental Steps into a living instrument where human breath, voice and vibration converge in a resonant act of collective sound.

Featuring more than 300 choristers from Sydney Philharmonia Choirs, conducted by Brett Weymark, Live Echo draws the hidden frequencies of the Opera House into voice, transforming the building’s resonant hum into song. 

As the work unfolds, it becomes an act of endurance and release. As voices rise and merge, they dissolve into a single, continuous vibration — both human and architectural.

Live Echo builds on Mel O’Callaghan’s long exploration of transformation and transcendence while extending her interest in ritual and the body as a vessel for change. Through collective breath and shared vibration, the work becomes a site of renewal where sound and form encounter the possibility of transformation.

Presented and Commissioned by the Sydney Opera House.

Thank you to our Idealist donors, Andrew Cameron AM and Cathy Cameron, for their support of this project.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.